Irene Naa Torshie (Middle)
The appointee for the position of the administrator of the District Assembly Common Fund (DACF), Irene Naa Torshie Adoo, has proposed that the blanket formula for the disbursement of the fund be changed so that deprived districts will be allocated higher amounts of money to accelerate their development agenda.
She said that had become very imperative because of the government’s policy of $1 million for each of the 275 constituencies, adding that some metropolitan and municipal assembles have as many as 10 constituencies and so would have more shares in the $1 million policy.
She explained that it would be disadvantageous to share the common fund equally amongst the various metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies since deprived districts would get less resources.
Naa Torshie made the proposal at her vetting by the Appointments Committee of Parliament.
According to the administrator-designate, assemblies with three or more constituencies should not have the same quantum of DACF as a very deprived district in the rural areas and that she would like the formula to be changed to favour the deprived districts.
The nominee also told the Committee that as part of her plans to sustain the disbursement of the fund on a timely basis and help support the new district assemblies, she would bring a proposal to parliament for consideration to allow her outfit to borrow from the banks and invest some and distribute some to the assemblies, especially the needy ones, to help sustain their development agenda.
She appealed to parliament to support her in making the DACF more proactive and responsive to the needs of Ghanaians.
Naa Torshie, former Member of Parliament (MP) for Tema West, also suggested to the assemblies, especially the deprived ones, to engage financial consultants to help them as to how to raise more revenue to complement the DAFC and help them realise their developmental objectives.
She said by so doing they could also easily embrace and support the new government’s policy of ‘one district, one factory.’
She also indicated to the Committee that she would use her influence as a former MP to lobby the house to put pressure on the executive to release the funds on time so that developments at the district levels are not stifled.
According to her, she would also constantly engage the Ministry of Finance and the Controller and Accountant-General to promptly release the fund so that the district assemblies could plan in advance for their development agenda.
She also disclosed that she would engage the district assemblies and encourage them to use the DAFC in ways that would bring maximum benefits to Ghanaians.
When she was asked by a member of the Committee, Alhassan Suhuyini Sayibu, about her background as lawyer and whether she has financial expertise to manage a finance entity like the DAFC, she said her duty as administrator is to prepare a formula to parliament – which has all the experts in the technical committees like the Finance Committee and the Local Government Committee – to scrutinize and make changes for approval before she would go ahead and disburse funds to the assemblies.
“Mr Chairman, my duty will end when I also prepare a report on how the district assemblies used the DACF and present it back to parliament for its perusal,” she told the Committee.
By Thomas Fosu Jnr